Another Blasphemous Cartoon Publication?? GIVE IT A BREAK PLEASE !

Here we go again. Another cartoon of the Prophet ( S.A.W.S) has been published. This time the perpetrator is the Atheist , Secularist and Humanist Society of University College London (UCL). It’s a cartoon, which shows Jesus and Prophet Mohammad in a bar.

This all has been done in the name of freedom of expression. I for one am a great believer in freedom of expression but this, my friends is not freedom of expression. Religion, generally hasn’t been my strong point so talks about religion don’t interest me, but when you talk about offending people in the name of freedom of expression then that really infuriates me, because it goes against every secular ideal I stand for.

We must ask ourselves, why do countries adopt secularism and not a theocracy? It is because secularism guarantees the freedom of expressing faith and the state guaranteeing the adherents of a faith or a belief its protection against attacks both verbal and physical. This much has also been mentioned in the 2005 World Humanist Congress that the state should intervene to protect human rights from gross violation, even if based on religious doctrine or enshrined in religiously based civil law.

Now, here we must highlight one point that humanists consider themselves as a separate religion and in The Humanist ((Vol. I, 1941, p. 5), Oliver Reiser, a signatory of the Humanist Manifesto, stated that:

The one great hope for democracy lies in the development of a non-super naturalistic religion which, unlike other intellectual movements, will be non-academic in its appeal to all civilized individuals. This new foundation for a coming world-order must be the emergent outcome of the thought-content of a universalized culture….

The god of this coming world-religion, that is, the object of reverence of scientific humanism, is the spirit of humanity in its upward striving.

This point is also supported by humanist like Burdette Backus and Kenneth Patton. Simply put, their “religion” is against “supernatural and theist religion”. Thus if they want their religion to be established as a state sponsored religion then they are going directly against the sacred principles of secularism which guarantees the freedom of religion under its umbrella and most importantly it abolishes state sponsored religion.

Resolution 7/19. Combating defamation of Religions, passed in the UN General Assembly on 28^th March 2008 asserts that any intolerant and xenophobic views against religions should be discouraged and actions taken against them because they incite violence. Well that is exactly what the Humanist society in UCL is doing. Thankfully, the UK government is taking action but sadly, the Muslim response is not up to the level of their opponents. Usually, threats are given which form the staple of most religions around the world, but importantly nobody is countering with logical arguments. However, I would like to draw attention to the Ahmaddiya Muslim Youth Association London that has taken a stand and is petitioning for the removal of the said cartoons. Very ironically, the current religious attitude of some Muslim countries like Pakistan is especially intolerant of Ahmadis, which is in direct opposition to the resolution 7/19. You will be surprised to read that Saudi Arabia was actually against the defamation resolution because it would lead the Muslims to “recognize pagan faiths” and a supposed “pagan faith” namely the Ahmaddiya faith is going for a petition against the publication of those cartoons, BBC reported. Now isn’t that one heck of a conundrum.

Therefore, the solution to the problem is that we should be logically advocating our concerns against the publication of such cartoons and raise public awareness that it is as much hurtful to the Muslims as it is hurtful to the Jews when Iranian leaders deny the holocaust (which to me is detestable). Unity among Muslims is of course lacking and is an area that must be worked upon. Lastly, the educated youth of Pakistan should take a stand against such blatant attacks against the freedom of religion and come up with a strong and united front against such ‘wannabe atheists”,

Putting a Paki on the Moon

The soil that we tread on is a great witness to the evolution of humanity, from caves to the high-rise buildings of cold metal and hard brick. These sand particles and the pebbles have borne the footsteps of Prophets, Messiahs, Writers, Inventors, Conquerors and Philosophers. They have seen what we have not seen, for we the humans mostly tend to forget what we did in the past and what are we capable of doing.

As I tread on a small pebble strewn path near my university under the night sky, I look up at the crescent above me. It is comforting to feel earth’s closest space neighbor’s cool bluish light on me. As I look up, I can’t help but focus my eyes on a patch of moon where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed. That first step on 20^th July 1969 was the epitome of USA’s advancement in science and technology. No other country has done it since the Apollo missions and it is unlikely to repeat that feat for another two or three decades.

Then a very crazy thought entered my head, but the thought was ridiculous, verging on blasphemous. I ignored it and continued my nighttime walk.

I came back and tried to forget what I had just thought but the thought somehow stuck. Then another thought came in. This one more ridiculous than the other. I laughed at it, this second thought was to write down and share the first thought that had come in my head. I told myself that if I ever write it down I would be branded as a “Lunatic” ( ah the irony of words).

But then my mind is like PM Gillani and my thoughts like Zardari. The former always succumbs to the pressure exerted by the latter. So here I am, penning out what I had thought that night.

Pakistan needs a Man on the Moon.

Now go on laugh, of course I can’t blame you, can I ? How can a nation suffering from electricity and gas shortages, strikes, war, death and destruction, who doesn’t (apparently) has money to build even a dam can ever EVER dare to hope to put a man in space let alone the moon. It seems like disrespect, mocking if you like, to the sufferings of a nation consisting of 180 million souls, 63% of whom fall under the age of 25 and where the literacy rate hovers somewhere around 50% and whose population still believes that Neil Armstrong really did hear Azan on the moon despite the fact that sound needs air to travel-And there’s no air on the moon!

But, just bear a few moments with me and imagine, what would it be like to have the Pakistani flag on the lunar surface. Wouldn’t it be exhilarating? Wouldn’t it be just a pleasure to show your passport on the airport and not have eyes brows raised but be greeted with a smile because you belong to a nation that had just conquered the moon from the Americans, to have the world label you as bold space entrepreneurs rather than as a nation of conservatives and blowhards. To think that the world would be a better place with the achievement of a crippled nation sending a man to the moon and ushering the world into a new space age seems like stuff from a Hollywood movie. But allow me to make an argument here. If a nation with a literacy rate of 50 % can make cruise missiles, a nation where a sewing needle is imported from China can make a nuclear device, a nation where half the population can’t even afford a computer, can boast world’s youngest Microsoft certified professionals, cannot build a rocket and lunar vehicle to take a man to the moon, I would say you are kidding me.

When we spend more than 43 billion dollars in fighting “our own people” for some nation thousands of miles away from us, when we spend more than 60 million dollars to help those affected by the war on terrorism, when our military budget increases with each passing year, where the security expenses of the PM and the President per annum alone surpass the 500,000 dollar figure and then you tell me we can’t afford to put a man on the moon. I say you sir are kidding me.

It is at times like these where nations can either rise or sink. Just like that tight ropewalker about to jump to safety after walking the whole length can either slip and fall or safely step on the ledge and take a bow, imagine Pakistan to be that tight ropewalker. Albeit, small, emaciated, starved, crippled and limping. I say costs don’t matter. What matters is the will of the people to leave a mark on history. That’s a common feeling that’s shared by people who believe in team effort, who believe that no matter what, obstacles can be overcome. Nations like these are powered by the almighty trinity of Youth, Intellectuals and Military. And believe you me. Pakistan has that. Just think, how much Pakistan can gain in technology when its every engineer would be involved in the lunar mission, imagine the number of technologies that would be introduced, the billions of foreign investment, new management practices, newly emerging centers of Pakistani economy, explosion of educational institutes, the flood of engineers and entrepreneurs, Pakistan would be changed forever and with it the South Asian region, or may be the whole world itself. Pakistan’s name would become a by word for heroism, adventurism , inspiration and motivation. When schoolchildren will read poems about the Pakistani mission to the moon rather than King Bruce and the Spider.

Imagine a day when every Sindhi, Balochi, Pashtun, Punjabi, Sunni, Shia, Barelvi, Ahmadi, Wahhabi, would be looking at that shiny sphere in the sky, as one single entity all thinking the same thing:

“Has it landed yet?”